Recording Animation Using Take Recorder

Take Recorder can record from various sources in both editor and gameplay contexts. The tutorials below illustrate how you can record your actions in Take Recorder.

Record Actor Manipulation in the Viewport

You can use Take Recorder to record actor manipulation in the Viewport.

1. Add the object you want to record to the Sources list.
   1. Select the actor in the Viewport.
   2. Click Add Source (+) > From Actor > Add 'Sphere'.
   

   Once the actor is sourced, you are ready to record your animation.

2. Click Record. A countdown and notification appears. When the countdown reaches 0, the sequence starts to record. Select your actor in the Viewport and move it around to capture its editor motion. When finished, click the Stop button or press the Esc key.

   
3. Click Review Last Recording to view the recording.

4. Click Play in Sequencer to observe your recorded actor data.

   

You might see a duplicate actor performing the actions instead of the editor object. This is because the record type for the actor was set to record as a Spawnable Actor. You can change this on the source object or globally on the project by changing the Record to Possessable property in the Take Recorder details. If you record to a Possessable Actor, then you only see the original actor animate.

Physics

You can use Take Record to capture physics simulations as animation data.

1. Add a sphere to your scene.
2. In order to break the sphere, you need to move the sphere away from the ground surface so it can gain momentum. Move the sphere up, away from the ground surface.
3. In the Details panel, enable Simulate Physics.
4. Now, the timing to record physics to a sequence is a bit tricky. You need to start Take Recorder at the same time as you hit play to capture the motion you're looking to capture. In order to accomplish this, you need to remove the countdown timer for Take Recorder. Open the Show/Hide user/project settings (gear icon) in the Take Recorder panel.
5. Under User Settings, set Countdown to 0.0s.
6. Hover your mouse over Record in Take Recorder.
7. Use the hotkey Alt-P to start playback and immediately click the Record in Take Recorder.

8. Let the simulation play through and stop the recording (click Stop Recording or press ESC) when you are satisfied with the recording.

   

Now that you have recorded your physical simulation, you can review it.

1. To open your take, click Review Last Recording.
2. In Sequencer, click Play and watch your recording from any angle.

Gameplay

You can use Take Recorder to record gameplay actions such as the player's movement and animation in a Level.

1. From Take Recorder, select Add Source (+) > Player to add the Player Actor to the Sources list
2. Click Play in the Unreal Engine toolbar to start a Play in Editor (PIE) session.

3. After the session has started, click Record. When the countdown reaches 0, the sequence starts to record. Move the character around your Level to capture its animation. When finished, click Stop or press Esc.

   
4. Click Review Last Recording to view the recording.

5. Click Play in Sequencer to preview the animation of your recorded player.